Salud. Dignidad. Justicia.

Rising unemployment hits Latinos hard

The Pew Hispanic Center released a report on June 4th citing the increased unemployment rate among Latino immigrants compared to non-Latinos for the first quarter of 2008. They found that Latino immigrants were especially hard-hit by the wave of unemployment, making it the first time since 2003 that Latino immigrants had a higher unemployment rate than their native-born counterparts.

[Latinas] left the labor force in greater proportion and experienced greater increases in unemployment than did Hispanic men. Some 130,000 more Latino women became unemployed in 2007, and their unemployment rate increased from 5.6% to 7.0%.

These adverse changes in employment are indicative of the continual barriers that Latinas/os face in securing a reliable source of livelihood for themselves and their families. Without a regular source of income, Latinas undoubtedly experience poorer health outcomes and may not prioritize their health, especially their reproductive health, ahead of other more pressing needs.

For more information about reproductive health in the Latina community, please see this fact sheet.